1857 Indian Uprising

Contextualisation:

The Indian Uprising has been said to have been one of the greatest anti-colonial uprisings against a European Empire during the 19^th century. The uprising represented a significant turning point in the long and complex relationship between Britain and India.

Exploring the Indian Uprising is important as it allows us to consider fundamental questions of identity and diversity. It is imperative to address problematic and difficult aspects of Britain’s colonial past to establish a more diverse and inclusive narrative of Britain’s history.  In particular, for people of Asian origin, the Indian Uprising can represent an important part of their history and personal identity.

It is necessary to be critical of traditional sources and information on the Indian Uprising and to move beyond singular narratives and stereotypical views.

The Indian Uprising continues to be the focus of intense scholarly debate amongst historians.

Accounts of the Indian Uprising:

In the years after 1857, the Indian Uprising had often been portrayed in Britain as a mutiny among barbaric and uncivilised sepoys, Indian soldiers serving under British or other European orders, bravely defeated by the British. However, amongst many nationalist historians in India, the Indian Uprising has often been viewed as a war of independence by heroic fighters against imperialist forces.

Historians continue to debate over whether the Indian Uprising was a mutiny, a peasants’ revolt or a war of independence. Recent scholarship has argued that the Indian Rebellion was a combination of different uprisings and acts of resistance dependent on local and regional situations.

The Events of the 1857 Indian Uprising: (Also known as the Sepoy Mutiny or often in India it is known as the First War of Independence.)

The Indian Uprising was a widespread rebellion, but ultimately an unsuccessful one, against British rule in India from 1857-59

The Uprising began in Meerut by sepoys in the service of the British East India Company, from where it spread to Delhi, Agra, Kanpur, Muttra and Lucknow, to name a few.

Background:

To explain the events of the Indian Uprising it is necessary to address the discontent and tensions amongst India people leading up to 1857. British paramountcy, the belief of British dominance in Indian political, economic, cultural and social life, had been introduced in India around 1820.

The East India Company:

The East India Company was an English company formed in 1600. Beginning as a monopolistic trading body, the Company became involved in politics, law and order, representing British imperialism in India from the early 18th century to the mid-19th century. Historians have argued that British and Western values were seen to have been imposed upon Indian society.  

Growing Discontent:

• Changes such as outlawing Sati (a widow’s suicide by fire) and child marriage were viewed from a British perspective as progressive reforms. Though, it has been said that the British often imposed these ‘reforms’ without regard for Indian culture. Introduction of the Hindu Widow Remarriage Act (1856) can be viewed as evidence of inappropriate and unpopular culture interference, particularly in regards to the social norms of widowhood in India.  
• British imposition in India can be highlighted by the introduction of the Doctrine of Lapse, which was applied significantly by Lord Dalhousie in the late 1840s. The Doctrine of Lapse involved the British prohibiting a Hindu ruler without a natural heir from adopting a successor. Thus after the ruler had died or abdicated, their land would be annexed. Under the Doctrine of Lapse, the East India Company took control over more than 25 states in India in the 1800s.
• There were increased fears from Indian people that their traditional way of life was being threatened. There were general public fears of forced conversion to Christianity. By the mid-19^th century, British and American missionaries were a familiar presence in Indian towns, cities and villages. General Wheeler, for example, preached openly to sepoys under his command in Cawnpore (now known as Kanpur) stating: “I have told them plainly that they are all lost and ruined sinners both by nature and by practice.” (April 1857)
• The Indian army under British rule faced poor terms of service and pensions, discriminatory pay, (British soldiers received better wages) limited prospects of promotion, and increased cultural and racial insensitivity from British officers.
• Feelings of discontent were heightened further with the introduction of the new Patter 1853 Enfield rifle. Rumours had spread that the cartridges for the new rifle were greased with pig and cow fat. The ends of these cartridges would have to be bitten off before use. This was offensive to both Muslims and Hindus; for Muslims, pigs are viewed as unclean and are forbidden from being eaten, and to Hindus, cows are viewed as sacred. In recent years, historians have argued that many authorities blamed the distribution of the Enfield rifle as the main factor contributing to the Indian Uprising. The cartridges acted as a convenient explanation for the Indian Uprising, but in doing so, it did not openly challenge the legitimacy of British colonial control or validate the unrest of Indian people.

This list of factors is by no means exhaustive. A combination of these factors can be attributed to the feelings of discontent and tensions among the Indian soldiers of the Bengal Army. Arguably, there was no single cause that ignited the Uprising of 1857. The cumulative effect of these factors and many more has been said to have acted as a catalyst of turning feelings of discontent into a full scale uprising.

The Uprising:

The beginning of the Uprising can be dated to the 29^th of March 1857 at Barrackpore, when a sepoy called Mangal Pandey of the 34^th Bengal Native Infantry, attacked his officers. Pandey’s unit in the Bengal Army, which had refused to use the new rifle cartridges, was about to be punished and imprisoned. Pandey rebelled by shooting a British sergeant-major and a lieutenant.

Mangal Pandey’s comrades were ordered to restrain him but they refused. British troops surrounded Pandey and then he shot himself in the chest. Pandey survived but was later hanged on the 8^th of April, 1857. Only a handful of sepoys were involved in this incident, yet the entire regiment were stripped of their uniform and disbanded. Common feeling amongst sepoys was that this was too harsh a punishment.

Pandey has often been considered a hero in India, portrayed as a freedom fighter in films and his image appearing on some Indian postage stamps.

In May and June 1857, more regiments of Indian troops mutinied against the British. Many sepoys in the south of India remained loyal to their British officers, but in the north, many regiments of the Bengal Army rebelled against the British. The uprising on both sides became extremely violent.

During 1857 to 1858, over one hundred thousand troops, over 2/3 of the Bengal army, mutinied. Almost all the cavalry and 70 infantry regiments rose against their commanders.

Infamous Uprisings:

Meerut: The date that is often coined as the official start of the uprising is the 10^th of May 1857. In Meerut, a large military camp near Delhi, 85 members of the 3rd Bengal Light Cavalry had been jailed for refusing to use the new Enfield rifle cartridges, allegedly greased with animal fat.

The British had stripped these soldiers of their uniform, put them in chains and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for refusing to use the cartridges. The sepoys were broken out of jail that night by their fellow soldiers. Most British officers who tried to intervene were shot. Other sepoys also revolted and events became violent. Sepoys had been reported to have attacked British civilians, including women and children.

Delhi: The mutineers travelled 36 miles to Delhi to proclaim the old Mughal Emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, to be the emblematic leader of the uprising. Some accounts suggest that the emperor was an unwilling leader, though historical accounts vary. Regardless, his involvement gave the uprising a legitimate sanction almost. Delhi occupied a key strategic position between Calcutta and the new territories of the Punjab. The city erupted into a revolt against the British. A number of British civilians in the city were able to flee, but many were killed.

Cawnpore (now Kanpur): On the 6^th of June1857, sepoys in Cawnpore rebelled and laid siege to Major-General Sir Hugh Wheeler’s garrison. The siege lasted nearly three weeks.

On the morning of the 27^th of June, Major-General Hugh Wheeler surrendered to Nana Sahib, the leader of the soldiers that rebelled, with the understanding that Wheeler and remaining survivors would have safe passage to Allahabad via the river Ganges. However, Nana Sahib and his followers ambushed them killing nearly all of the men, including General Wheeler, and taking approximately 200 women and children captive.

The Cawnpore Massacre:

Two weeks later, as British troops approached Cawnpore, the soldiers under Nana Sahib killed the women and children, throwing their remains down a well. When the British eventually took control of Cawnpore and discovered the well, it inflamed British troops and led to extremely violent acts of retaliation.

‘The Devil’s Wind’:

In the early months of the British recovery few mutineers were captured alive. Thousands were hanged and many innocent Indian civilians were killed. The British destroyed entire villages that were rumoured to have ties to mutineers. They hanged Muslims with pork stuffed into their mouths and forced Hindus to lick the bloodstains of various sites including Cawnpore. When trials were held, many of those convicted of mutiny were blown from guns. This method of punishment made identification difficult and a decent burial nearly impossible. British officials made other Indians watch these executions. The people of northern India called the long period of retaliations ‘The Devil’s Wind’.

‘The Devil’s Wind’ caused great outrage amongst both Indian people and in the West. Many viewed the British actions as cruel and excessively violent.

Lucknow: Lucknow was the capital of Oudh, a state which was annexed causing great resentment amongst some sepoys. The sepoys rebelled on the 30^th of May 1857 which was followed by riots in the city. Around 1,200 British officers and civilians fortified themselves against 20,000 mutineers. On the 26^th of September, British forces commanded by Sir Henry Havelock succeeded in breaking through. However, Havelock’s forces were too weak to evacuate the British at Lucknow. Sir Colin Campbell’s relief force of 4,500 men arrived on the 16^th of November 1857and was able to evacuate women and children, and eventually the entire garrison.

Conclusion:

The 1857 Indian Uprising against British rule brought the end of the East India Company. The Company lost all administrative powers under the 1858 Government of India Act and was abolished in 1874. Though, powers and rule of India shifted to the Crown, thus establishing India as an official colony of the British Empire for nearly 100 more years. The Indian Uprising of 1857 was only the beginning of British imperial rule in India.

Historian Whitney Howarth concludes that, “Although the East India Company lost its authority in India and was later dissolved, the racial abuses and economic hardships that Indians experienced did not improve.”

Below are some recommendations of further reading on the Indian Uprising:

Mahmood Farooqui, Besieged Voices From Delhi 1857, (2012). The first ever translation of the mutiny papers documents on the siege of Delhi.

William Dalrymple, The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty, Delhi, 1857 (Bloomsbury 2006). Makes extensive use of the Mutiny Papers from the Indian National Archives and provides a rich and fascinating insight into the motivation, experiences and dilemmas of the ordinary people of Delhi in 1857.

Joseph Coohil, Indian Voices from the 1857 Rebellion, History Today, (2007). Focuses on surviving Indian narratives of the uprising.

Biswamoy Pati (ed.), The Great Rebellion of 1857 in India: Exploring Transgressions, Contests and Diversities, (2010). This collection explores ignored diversities of the Indian Uprising such as gender and colonial narratives.

Clare Anderson, The Indian Uprising of 1857-8: Prisons, Prisoners and Rebellion, (2007).  This book is based on extensive archival research in Britain and India and examines why mutineer-rebels chose to attack prisons and release prisoners.

References:

Clare Anderson, Indian Uprising of 1857-8 : Prisons, Prisoners and Rebellion. (2007)

Historical Association, The Voice for History, ‘Teaching about the 1857 Indian Rebellion’

Jill C. Bender, The 1857 Indian Uprising and the British Empire.  (2016)

National Army Museum, Indian Mutiny: Why did the Indian Mutiny happen?

Whitney Howarth, 1857 Indian Uprising, World History Project.